Nearly two years after OpenAI’s dramatic boardroom upheaval, new details have emerged about the brief ousting of CEO Sam Altman — a corporate saga that stunned Silicon Valley and reshaped the future of the world’s most influential AI company. According to a newly released deposition from OpenAI co-founder and former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, the move to fire Altman in November 2023 stemmed from deep internal mistrust and months of growing tension among the company’s leadership. The deposition was made public as part of Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, shedding rare light on the inner workings of the AI giant.

Sutskever revealed that he had spent more than a year contemplating Altman’s removal, ultimately presenting a 52-page memo to independent board members outlining what he described as a “consistent pattern of lying, undermining his executives, and pitting them against one another.”The scientist, who co-founded OpenAI alongside Altman and Musk in 2015, said that by late 2023, he believed “the appropriate action for the board to take was to terminate Altman.”

Sutskever’s memo detailed concerns about Altman’s leadership style and internal behavior. He accused the CEO of undermining then–Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati and creating divisions between senior researchers — including Sutskever himself and research director Jakub Pachocki, who is now OpenAI’s chief scientist — by offering conflicting accounts of company direction.The deposition also referenced Altman’s earlier controversies at startup accelerator Y Combinator, where Sutskever claimed he was ousted for similar behavior — launching multiple projects without clear strategy and fostering internal competition.

Once Sutskever believed the board was ready, he moved. On November 17, 2023, OpenAI’s board announced Altman’s dismissal, citing a lack of confidence in his leadership. What followed was a swift and unprecedented employee revolt: nearly the entire staff — 738 employees — signed a letter threatening to quit unless Altman was reinstated.Within four days, Altman returned as CEO on November 21, and the directors who had supported his removal — including Sutskever — either resigned or were replaced.In one of the more surprising revelations, Sutskever disclosed that during Altman’s brief absence, OpenAI held talks with rival AI firm Anthropic about a possible merger that would have placed Anthropic’s leadership in charge of OpenAI. The proposal reportedly gained some board support but collapsed as employee backlash mounted and Altman regained control.As Musk’s lawsuit continues, the testimony offers the clearest picture yet of what drove OpenAI’s brief but consequential coup — and how Altman’s swift return cemented his grip over the company now defining the global race for artificial intelligence.